


Forced Encore

by JenCforCarolina



Series: Iona [4]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Iona Asej
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 11:24:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17487221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenCforCarolina/pseuds/JenCforCarolina
Summary: Every time Iona begins a new life, it is not her choice. And sometimes the price of survival can be nearly too high.





	Forced Encore

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this _easily_ three years ago, but it was lost in my mass cross post from tumblr apparently, and with Iona in my latest project, I figured it may be an _important_ piece of her life to have available to read. 
> 
> Set immediately after Sunbroke, the result of Iona becoming a Sunbreaker.

Zavala gave her a glance, an eye up from his papers, and then a double take as she approached. He straightened and gave her his full attention, as he often did with newer, greener Guardians. Cayde and Ikora gave her equally curious glances, and a flick of Ikora’s tongue through her lips conveyed unrecognition.

It set Iona to unease.

“Titan. Welcome back.” He took in her gear with a flicker of a gaze. Didn’t seem to recognize her but recognized something. “Long time on the front?”

“Not really sir. Hardly a day.” She replied cautiously. His brow furrowed at that.

“Well.” He swallowed, gruff and appearing now a little unsettled himself. His eyes flicked to Ikora who was now pretending not to watch the exchange with extreme interest. Cayde had openly tilted his head in their direction, audio receptors obviously on high. “I apologize. I must have had something on my mind when we last spoke. What do you have for me Titan?”

A pang of hurt went through her, unbidden. Iona had gotten used to being more than just ‘Titan.’ She had a positive reputation in the crucible, an excellent one as a member of the joint Guardian and City Militia Air Force. Her sparrow racing fame wasn’t something she preferred but it had contributed to her name being known about the tower. Iona hadn’t been just ‘Titan’ to her Vanguard in years. It settled something akin to fear in the pit of her stomach.

“Is something wrong sir?” She asked bluntly, clasping her hands behind her back. It was a risky tone of familiarity, and it made Zavala squirm in his own way. Younger Titans never questioned him, and Iona had earned the right to on occasion after nearly a decade of service. She could sense that she had gotten Cayde’s full attention now as well.

“Nothing wrong Titan.” The Commander’s voice was now cold. “Report.”

She clamped her jaw and weighed her options. There was something very obviously wrong. She didn’t feel like she could ignore this. It dragged up the thoughts that had plagued her on the ride home from Mercury. She had spoken to the Sunbreakers as he had asked, she had passed their test. 

“I wasn’t the first you sent, was I sir?” She blurted, weaving the distrust through her tone. “There were others before me.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific?” He had dropped his chin and was glaring down his nose at her now. She stayed calm.

“Mercury.” The moment the word left her lips Ikora took in a breath and straightened, slamming her book.

“You sent another one?” She hissed, in quiet-toned disbelief. Cayde also shifted, gestured to a couple of the room’s attendants to stand by the entryway, seemingly to let no one enter. Iona observed everything with only her eyes, frozen in place by uncertainty.

“Another what?” Zavala demanded. “Guardian? To Mercury?”

The Hunter Vanguard tutted. “This is the sixth big man. You deny it every time.” Iona was close enough to hear the whirr in Cayde’s throat.

“Couldn’t be only six.” She intoned. Ikora left her place to walk around the table, coming to hover beside Zavala. She waved a hand at the side of his face and he flinched as she peered into his eyes.

“What’d he send you to do?” Cayde placed his hands on the table, leaning heavily in. There was a conspiratorial air to the conversation now, but less against her, more inclusive. It was emboldening.

“There was a group… there. Besides those Osiris cultists. The Sunbreakers.” She began. Zavala stiffened, a gaze to her with gritted teeth. She swallowed her words.

“Zavala.” Ikora pried. He crossed his arms.

“I’m not prepared to handle that yet. More important things to worry about.”

“That’s just what you told me.” Iona murmured, earnest in her steadfast gaze. She stared at him, hoping to convey the honesty. “You told me you had dodged the problem for a long time and that you were finally sending someone to meet them. But when I arrived they were prepared, and their leader told me many had come before seeking their power. She offered me the test and warned me that failure was oblivion. I passed.”

“I would have only sent someone I explicitly trusted-“ He began and it wounded her to hear. He had trusted her but…

“I have served this Tower for eight years.” Her voice was heavy with disbelief. “You’ve sent me on strikes to Mars, and to Venus. I’ve scouted the Black Garden and infiltrated Cabal strongholds. And you don’t even… remember?” A crack in her voice, finally, a small one, and she was ashamed. Ikora however took in a breath, her shoulders straightening and shuddering. She strode back to her place at the table and shifted books aside until she found one she wanted, slamming it open with extreme prejudice.

“Mercury.” She announced. “Vex. Did you come into contact with the Vex network?”

“Yes. That was part of the… test…” Ikora walked back over, stormed was a word for it but she was a calm storm, the eye. She opened her palm and her Ghost emerged, darting about Iona curiously. Kestrel materialized as well, blinking questioningly. The two companions faced one another, exchanging data with rapid flashes and blinks.

“What is your name?” The Titan Vanguard asked.

“I am Iona Asej.” She watched the Ghosts, mostly for the need to keep her eyes trained somewhere.

“And you’ve been here eight years, you said? Have we spoken?”

“Not often. Sometimes.” Iona struggled to get her voice under control. The situation was becoming overwhelming. The Warlock Vanguard laid a hand on her shoulder and held it there, a pressure, a comfort.

Ikora’s Ghost broke off, and Kestrel turned back to her. “They don’t know who we are. Next to no records. A few mentions of your name. On reports and a few crucible scorecards. Like someone erased you but did a poor job.”

“It sounds like you got out just in time, Iona.” Ikora made a distinct effort to use her name, a hollow comfort.

“The Vex were very close…” She whispered. Their red eyes had pierced through her dream -her vision, her simulation.

“Get some rest.” Zavala ordered with a collected nod. He seemed less upset than before, a little shaken still, perhaps. “Do you need a new room? Would your team…”

“I didn’t have one.” Iona interrupted. “No fireteam. But I had friends in the crucible and the sparring ring, and my squadron… oh.” Her stomach plummeted at the realization. Kit, Mira, the other pilots, they hadn’t the faintest idea she was gone, would never expect her back. It tore at her heart. She had built a home here, a belonging. And now it was still here, still tangible, but somehow shifted just out of reach.

“Rest.” Ikora agreed, sympathetic gleam to her eye. “We will speak tomorrow, learn what we can about your experience. Perhaps prevent it in the future.”

Iona nodded and turned away, wandering down to the tower dorms. Her room was untouched, though record of incorrect codes were in the lock system. People trying to enter, perhaps, wondering who the room was for, why it was empty, why they had never seen anyone enter it before…

She lay down on her plain bed in the plain room only she remembered, and willed sleep to take away the nightmare. Instead, it filled her with more. The images of the Vex played around and around in her mind, their faceplates buffeted by flames and somehow unaffected. She fought through droves of them, an unending overwhelming army, until she was buried beneath them. 

She woke up in a cold sweat and understood that for the time being, there would be no rest. Just like the last time she had been brought into a new life, nightmares would plague her for weeks and months. It was time to begin again.


End file.
